Activities of Cecilia WIKSTRÖM related to 2010/0064(COD)
Plenary speeches (1)
Sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography - Children's rights in the European Union (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on combating the sexual abuse, sexual exploitation of children and child pornography, repealing Framework Decision 2004/68/JHA PDF (658 KB) DOC (838 KB)
Amendments (15)
Amendment 45 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 2 a (new)
Recital 2 a (new)
(2a) Sexual abuse of children takes place most frequently in the direct environment of children, during a longer period, by figures of authority, such as parents, relatives, teachers, child minders, or religious leaders. The relationship of dependence between the victim and the perpetrator, strict social or moral conventions with the community, feelings of guilt and fear of retribution or exclusion by the community, make it extremely difficult for young victims to speak out, and sometimes they remain silent far into adulthood. This is an important obstacle to effective prosecution of child abuse. Child abuse therefore often goes unreported or unpunished.
Amendment 53 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 7
Recital 7
(7) This Directive does not govern Member States' policies with regard to consensual sexual activities in which children may be involved and which can be regarded as the normal discovery of sexuality in the course of human development, taking account of the different cultural and legal traditions and of new forms of establishing and maintaining relations among children and adolescents, including through information and communication technologies. These issues fall outside of the scope of this Directive. It is up to Member States to define, with regard to these issues, what should and what should not be criminalised.
Amendment 62 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 9 a (new)
Recital 9 a (new)
(9a) Member States should foster open dialogue and communication with countries outside the EU in order to be able to prosecute perpetrators, under the relevant national legislation, who travel outside EU borders for the purposes of sex tourism.
Amendment 72 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 12
Recital 12
(12) Where the danger posed by the offenders and the possible risks of repetition of the offences make it appropriate, convicted offenders should be temporarily or permanently prevented from exercising professional activities involving regular contacts with children, where appropriate. Implementation of such prohibitions throughout the EU should be facilitated.
Amendment 78 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 13
Recital 13
(13) Child pornography, which constitutes sex abuse images, is a specific type of content which cannot be construed as the expression of an opinion. To combat it, it is necessary to reduce the circulation of child abuse material by making it more difficult for offenders to upload such content onto the publicly accessible Web. Action is therefore necessary to remove the content at source and apprehend those guiltys quickly as possible as well as to apprehend and take action against those who are under strong suspicion of making, distributing or downloading child abuse images. The EU, in particular through increased cooperation with third countries and international organisations, should seek to facilitate the effective removal by third country authorities of websites containing child pornography, which are hosted in their territorywith the help of bilateral or multilateral agreements, should seek to facilitate the effective removal of Internet pages containing or disseminating child abuse material as well as facilitate the criminal prosecution by third country authorities of persons in their territory who placed child abuse material on websites or caused its distribution over the Internet. However as, despite such efforts, the removal of child pornography content at its source proves to be difficult where the original materials are not located within the EU, mechanisms should also be put in place to block access from the Union'sMember States may implement additional measures to restrict access by Internet users in their territory to iInternet pages identified as containing or disseminating child pornographyabuse material. For that purpose, different mechanisms can be used as appropriate, including facilitating the competent judicial or police authorities to order additional measures, such as blocking, or supporting and stimulating Internet Service Providers on a voluntary basis to develop codes of conduct and guidelines for blockrestricting access to such Internet pages. Both with a view to the removal and the blocking of child abuse content, cooperation between public authorities should be established and strengthenedAll technical measures to eliminate or restrict access to Internet pages containing or disseminating child abuse material should be subject to a strengthened cooperation between public authorities, particularly in the interest of ensuring that national lists of websites containing child pornography material are as complete as possible and of avoiding duplication of work. Any such developments must take account ofmeasures must respect the rights of the end users, adhere to existing legal and judicial procedures and comply with the European Convention on Human Rights and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The Safer Internet Programme has set up a network of hotlines whose goal is to collect information and to ensure coverage and exchange of reports on the major types of illegal content online.
Amendment 98 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point b – subpoint iv
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point b – subpoint iv
(iv) realistic images of a child engaged in sexually explicit conduct or realistic images of the sexual organs of a child, regardless of the actual existence of such child, for primarily sexual purposes.;
Amendment 189 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 6 a (new)
Article 5 – paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. It shall be within the discretion of the Member States to decide whether this Article applies to cases involving child pornography, as referred to in Article 2(b)(iii), where the person appearing to be a child was in fact 18 years of age or older at the time of depiction.
Amendment 244 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 14 – paragraph 1
Article 14 – paragraph 1
1. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that investigations into or the prosecution of the offences referred to in Articles 3 to 7 are not dependent on a report or accusation being made by the victim or by its representative, and that the criminal proceedings may continue even if the victim has withdrawn their statements.
Amendment 263 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 17 – paragraph 2 a (new)
Article 17 – paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Member States shall ensure in cases of sexual abuse and sexual exploitation within the context of the family, circle of relatives or friends, school sports, church or other parts of the regular day-to-day environment of the child the necessary measures are undertaken to protect and provide assistance to the child victim, as well as to other family members who where not involved in the offence.
Amendment 307 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 19 – paragraph 5 a (new)
Article 19 – paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Member States shall take the necessary measures, where in the interest of the child victims and taking into account other overriding interests, to protect their privacy, their identity and their image and to prevent the public dissemination of any information that could lead to their identification.
Amendment 313 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 21 – title
Article 21 – title
Amendment 314 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 21 – title
Article 21 – title
Amendment 320 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 21 – paragraph 1
Article 21 – paragraph 1
1. Member States shall take the necessary legal measures to obtain the blocking of access by Internet users in their territory to Iremoval at source of internet pages containing or disseminating child pornography. The blocking of access shall be subject to adequate safeguards, in particular to ensure that the blocking is limited to what is necessary, that users are informed of the reason for the blocking and that content providers, as far as possible, are informed of the possibility of challenging itabuse images.
Amendment 337 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 21 – paragraph 2
Article 21 – paragraph 2
2. Without prejudice to the above, Member States shall take the necessary measures to obtain the removal of iIn addition, when removal of content at source has proven impossible to achieve, Member States may, where prescribed by law and necessary, set up proportionate and transparent procedures to restrict access by Internet users in their territory to Internet pages containing or disseminating child pornography. abuse images.
Amendment 341 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 21 – paragraph 2 a (new)
Article 21 – paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Any measure under paragraphs 1 and 2 shall respect the fundamental rights and freedoms of natural persons, as guaranteed by the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and general principles of Union law. It shall provide for a prior ruling including the right to an effective and timely judicial review.